“I think I’m only going to live today”
KIA maintained its lone lead by winning 8-4 in an away game against Hanwha in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 12th, marking its fourth consecutive win and losing 12-4 overall in the season. Kim Do-young, who started as the third baseman and third batter on the day, had two hits, two RBIs and one stolen base, including a winning home run.
In the top of the third inning, when the score was tying 1-1, Seo Geon-chang and Choi Won-jun had a fly ball to the left field, no two outs and no runners, respectively, grounded out to the second base, and Kim Do-young, who watched one ball, hit Peña’s two-pitch 146 km/h fastball to hit the left fence. Kim’s third homer of the season turned the game around 2-1.
Afterwards, Kim hit the sixth pitch of the seventh inning with his team leading 3-2 with one out and second base, and Hanwha’s fourth pitcher Lee Min-woo, to make a timely hit to the right field and create a valuable additional point. KIA, which widened the score due to Kim’s RBI, gave up four more runs and shook off Hanwha’s pursuit, resulting in the victory.
Kim, who had not been able to fully prepare for the season due to finger injury in November last year, struggled a bit in the early part of the season, as his batting average stood at 0.154 in March, but he posted a batting average of 0.341 in 10 games in April, elevating his cumulative batting average to 0.271. After the game, he asked questions and answers with Kim.
- I think the sense of hitting has settled down.
▲I felt a lot of sense of hitting. I entered the game as the third batter, and when I saw the lineup, I thought I should hit the ball when there was a runner. I was satisfied because I felt like I had done it for a while.
Q: Maybe because we started later than the other players, we didn’t get along at the beginning. I wonder if it was hard.
▲It was hard, but I think it was a trial to go through. I learned a lot from that sluggish situation. What the seniors said were words that could help me to the end of my baseball life. I also thank them for that. I think it was a lot of positive factors for me.
Q: Can you tell me what kind of senior you said.
▲I heard so many things, and Seo Geon-chang told me to get a lot of energy while running when I was in a bad situation, so that touched me a lot. In fact, while running like that, I felt a sense of hitting and raising my sense of baseball. I think that advice gave me strength.
Q: I hit a big home run, and if you look back on the situation.
▲ First of all, it was two outs, and of course, it would have been helpful for me to go out, but it was a one-ball situation, so I turned the bat big with the idea of aiming for only one fastball and trying just one swing.
Q: Did you lose a lot of your fear of injury when you slid and didn’t spare yourself.
▲I feel a little anxious because I get injured so much around me. Honestly, I don’t know when my hamstring or calf injury will come, so I’m warming up hard, and I’m also aware of it by stretching in my room alone after the game. However, I don’t think there should be a situation where I’m afraid of injuries while playing games, so I’m playing with the thought of living only today in the stadium.
Q: Do you still have any difficulties dealing with the ball at third base.
▲I’ve been playing third base properly for two years now, but even if I do it, it’s difficult and I can’t adapt. If I do it a lot, I get used to it and cover fast hits with my quickness or senses, but I don’t think that’s what I can do just because I make it, so I’m just focusing on practicing so that I can gain experience day by day. There seems to be no other answer than that.
Q: If you make a mistake, do you think you should make up for it.
▲I have that thought, but what I’m focusing on these days is practicing to forget even if there is an error in defense. So I think today’s result was good, and I think I was able to send a good hit without affecting the hit.
Q: Unlike the last two years, the team’s atmosphere is good from the beginning.
▲These days, the atmosphere is so good that I hope it will be like this until the end, but baseball has a cycle, so I think there may be a situation where the atmosphere gets worse one day. With that in mind, I have to be prepared, not prepared, and I am doing my best in one game and one game with the thought that I will win a lot when I can just win.
Q: I think we can set a personal goal now.
▲There are many injured players these days, so the goaltender has become stronger. I will make sure to play full-time in the first team this year. 안전놀이터